Super Bowl LVII made history in several ways. One of them is Autumn Lockwood. At 29, she made history this year by becoming the first Black woman to coach in the Super Bowl. Not only that, she has a connection to the Ohio Valley. She is one of the Philadelphia Eagles coaches by being a part of the Sports Conditioning Coaching team. She has been with the Eagles since August 2022. Before her present position she was the Sports performance coach at the University of Houston. She has a master’s degree from East Tennessee State University. While there, she mainly worked with the men’s and women’s basketball team. Earlier in her academic career studies she played soccer while attending the University of Arizona. There she also worked with the strength and conditioning of the university’s cheerleading squad.

Autumn worked with the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, as the football team’s strength and conditioning coaching assistant. She also worked with the Atlanta Falcons. It is a special note that her father, David Lockwood, was the former UNLV coach and at one time was a star cornerback for West Virginia University. No wonder Autumn Lockwood spent some time in Morgantown and attended University High School.

It is said that she is the fourth woman to coach in the NFL, and several of these women were of color.

Another item for the history books with this past Super Bowl is that the Philadelphia Eagles quarterback, Jalen Hurts, and Kansas City Chiefs quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, marked the first time two black quarterbacks played against each other in the Super Bowl. There have only been eight Black quarterbacks to play in the NFL Superbowl in the NFL’s 103-year history. The first was Doug Williams of the Washington Redskins in the 1987 season. He was also the first Black quarterback to win the Super Bowl. Next was Steve McNair of the Tennessee Titans, who lost in 1999. Third was Donovan McNabb of the Philadelphia Eagles who lost in the 2004 season. Fourth was Colin Kaepernick of the San Francisco 49ers who also lost in the 2012 season. Fifth was Russell Wilson of the Seattle Seahawks, he won in the 2013 season and lost in the 2014. Sixth was Cam Newton of the Carolina Panthers who lost in the 2015 season. Seventh was Hurts, and the eighth is the only one that has been in three Super Bowls. That is Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs. He won in the 2019 season, lost in the 2020 season, and won again a few days ago for the 2022 season.

This is amazing when you think that Fritz Pollard is considered by some to be the first Black quarterback and the first Black coach in the NFL in the early 1920s. It is reported that there was an official ban on Black players until it was lifted in 1946. There became diversity in every player position but the quarterback position. Quarterbacks were the last player position to become desegregated.

There have only been four Black coaches that have made it to the Super Bowl.

The first two played each other in 2007 for the 2006 season championship; Tony Dungy of the Indianapolis Colts won over Lovie Smith of the Chicago Bears. The third is Mike Tomlin who has been to the Super Bowl twice. He won in 2009 for the 2008 season, and also the youngest coach to win at the time. Then lost in 2011 for the 2010 season. He is still the only coach in the Steelers franchise history to never have a losing season. The last is Jim Caldwell who coached in 2010 for the 2009 season in the Super Bowl and lost with the Indianapolis Colts.

Only 24 men in 103 years have ever served as a Black coach in the NFL. Seventy percent of all players in the NFL are Black, but only seven teams at the most out of 32 teams have ever had Black coaches. At the time of this writing there are only three Black coaches in the NFL: Tomlin, DeMeco Ryan of the Houston Texans, and Todd Bowles at Tampa Bay.

Here are some other notable things in Black history that should be noted as well. This year Democrats in the U.S. House made history by electing New York Rep. Hakeem Jeffries. This made him the first Black American to lead a major political party in Congress. He is now the House Minority Leader.

Black History facts like: Cynthia Marshall is the first Black female CEO of an NBA team — the Dallas Mavericks in 2018. Shirley Chisholm was the first Black woman elected to Congress and the first to run for the President of United States from a major political party. Kamala Harris is the first Black, first South Asian American and first female Vice President of the United States. Dr. W.E. DuBois – first Black man to receive a Ph.D. from Harvard University. Rosalind Brewer, CEO of Walgreens, is the only black woman to currently lead a Fortune 500 company. Before this she was the leader of Starbucks and Sam’s Club.

Victor J. Glover, Jr. is the first Black Astronaut to live and work at the International Space Station for an extended stay.

Amanda Gorman at 22 years old is the youngest poet at a presidential inaugural in U.S. History.

Rashida Jones is the president of MSNBC and the first Black executive to run a major TV news network. Sydney Barber is the first Black female Brigade Commander at the U.S. Naval Academy.

Jason Wright at 38 years of age is the first Black president of an NFL team. He is the president of the Washington Commanders. Currently, he is also the youngest president of an NFL team.

Dana Canedy is the first woman, first minority, and the youngest woman to be the administrator of the Pulitzer Prizes and is now the Vice President of Simon & Schuster.

Many have said that Black History should no longer be celebrated. That to talk about it makes others feel sad.

All history of all races has elements of sadness. No wonder, Winston Churchill said it in one speech, “Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”

Others have said this as well. May we be open to learn from all history of all races, celebrating the good, and learning from the bad.

Rev. Darrell W. Cummings is pastor of Bethlehem Apostolic Temple in Wheeling and Shiloh Apostolic Temple in Weirton.